Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

It’s funny how quickly life takes a spin and puts you in another direction. This week I’ve been planning things month-by-month as to where and what I’ll be doing. In a way I’m a displaced person, currently living in my mother’s condominium while cleaning it up, boxing things I want of my mom’s, and getting it ready for sale. Staying at my mother’s place has been tough, so I booked a flight to Germany for next week where I’ll be staying for a month.

I will fly out on Thursday and arrive on Friday in Amsterdam and be in three countries in one day; United States, Holland and Germany. My Love will pick me up and we’ll stay at our flat for the night and then on Saturday head to the United Kingdom. We’ll drive (okay, he’ll drive) from Germany to the French Coast (3 countries; Germany, Belgium and France). From there, we will take a ferry across to Dover, U.K. and then drive to Canterbury where we will stay until Monday. We will be in 4 countries within a matter of 6 hours. I am looking forward to getting away and relaxing.

While I’m out there, we will be looking into other flats because the plan is (for now) that I will be moving out to Germany for a year or two, returning for holidays and summer vacation. The flat we have is all right, but we figured it would be nice to have a little more room or a balcony. If we can’t find anything cheap, then we’ll just make do with the flat we have now. Here are pictures I posted before of our flat.

It’s a learning experience living in another country. We didn’t have much out there—we actually lived like college students—but we had the essentials. This way of life was great because we focused on each other, things to do and cheap travel. When I returned to the States last year, I realized how much STUFF I had that wasn’t really needed. But I appreciate the way of life in the U.S. and in Germany.

When I lived in Germany, I made some videos of the places we went to. Here are a few of those videos.

A Glimpse of Germany

 

Many Faces of Spain

 For The Love of Italy

What are your plans for the next month?

Planning and Wandering,

Bea

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Well…I’m trying to handle it. The time has come for me to say good-bye. I’m sad my European adventures and time with my Love is ending, but I know I was blessed and appreciate the opportunity. We’ve explored so many places within Germany and Europe that we’ve tracked our walks and they totaled approximately 210 miles since January 9. I’ve been pretty proud of our footage. Here’s a recap of the journeys we took over the past 5 months: (Germany) Hattingen, Essen, Monschau, Plettenberg, Bochum, Krefeld-Lynn, Wuppertal, Munster, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Kempen, Schloss Burg, Altenberg; (Luxembourg) Luxembourg; (Scotland) Edinburgh, (England) Windsor, (Spain) Roses, Cadaques, Figueres, Barcelona, Girona, Banyoles, Besalu; (Belgium) Brugge; (Holland) Amsterdam, Venlo, Domburg, Zoutelande; (Italy) Lake Garda, Verona, Bologna; and (Sweden) Stockholm, Trosa, Nykoping. I want to thank you all for following us in our travels.

As an update to my “I Got Your Back” post, I haven’t shed my weight like Germany shed the snow, but I haven’t gained either. See how I made that a positive. ;) At the present time, I am unable to sell my condo due to unforeseen matters. Once those unforeseen matters are cleared up, I will put it on the market. For anyone looking for a condo on the south side of Chicago in a historic part of town, and within walking distance to the train, shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out.

At the present time, my Love has not found a teaching position in the U.S. What this means is that he will be coming to the U.S. with me through the month of April for his spring break and student exchange excursion, but will return to Germany in May. I will look for a job, hopefully freelance or within the Chicago downtown area, while he finishes out his school year in Germany. If he still doesn’t have a teaching position in the U.S. by summer, he will come in July during his summer break and then return to Germany at the end of August—another year of separation.

It will be a tough year for us, so I ask you to send good thoughts our way…or a job. LOL! Anyhow, this will be my last post before I leave for the States on Friday. I wish you all a safe and awesome week.

 
Bea, who is looking forward to a shower without a hunched ceiling.